Doctor gives Amaré's recovery rave reviews

The Suns' Amaré Stoudemire spent Thursday at ESPN, where he did interviews and is filming a commercial with mixed martial arts fighter Kimbo Slice.

If Boris Diaw and Al Thornton pokes could damage his eye, Stoudemire ought to don his eyewear around Slice too. But Stoudemire's recovery from a detached retina gets a rave review from his surgeon, Dr. Pravin Dugel.

"This injury is more serious than any he's had before," Dugel said. "This was more career-threatening. We came very close to having a lot of difficulty. With a traumatic detachment like he had and a lot of tears and scars in a person this young, the risk of losing vision is very high."

Dugel said Stoudemire has 20/20 vision with contact lenses and no restrictions on his activity, other than to always use eyewear on the court.

There is a slim chance Stoudemire could develop a cataract or more scar tissue, which, if severe, could cause a detachment.

"Can bad things happen? Yes," Dugel said. "Is it likely? No."

Free throws

Goran Dragic rebounded from a scoreless opener in European Championship group play with 16- and 19-point games off the bench for Slovenia this week.

• Valley residents Eddie House of the Boston Celtics and Greg Ostertag joined the Suns' pickup play Thursday. Ostertag, 36, said he has interest from an NBA team.